Social activists have called on President Obama to posthumously pardon Marcus Garvey, the 20th-century black nationalist who was convicted of mail fraud in 1923 based on what some have called a racially motivated investigation orchestrated by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

Dr. Julius Garvey, the youngest son of the late civil rights leader, was joined by activists, academics and attorneys Wednesday to demand his father’s exoneration in a press conference at the National Press Club.